Boston-based corporate catering startup ezCater has laid off more than 400 employees across all four of its offices—Boston, Denver, Paris and Vancouver—as the spread of the novel coronavirus disrupts workplaces around the world.
"There is not enough sugar on the planet to sugarcoat this: we’re a company that feeds meetings, and meetings are not happening much right now," the company said in a statement emailed to BostInno. "We were crushing our 2020 plan, until coronavirus hit."
Founded in 2007, ezCater had made several big moves over the last year. In July, it moved to a brand-new office in Post Office Square, designed to accommodate a total of 750 employees. The company was on a hiring spree, having raised $150 million in Series D-1 funding almost exactly one year ago. At the time, that funding brought ezCater's valuation to $1.25 billion, making it a unicorn.
Now, ezCater has joined a growing list of Boston-area startups that have been forced to downsize as the virus' economic impact trickles down to the startup world. Another Boston-based corporate catering startup, Alchemista, recently had to furlough 90 percent of its staff, bringing its headcount to four.
"We have to scale back until the world returns," the company said.
FYI, we're rounding up COVID-19-driven layoffs here. The article will be updated continually.
